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May 18, 2017May 18, 2017

Weekend Forecast: ‘Alien Covenant’ Looks To Dethrone ‘Guardians Vol. 2’, But Will It Top ‘Prometheus’?

Fox’s Alien: Covenant is finally set to open, as it hopes to dethrone Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2 this weekend. But the question on everyone’s minds is this: will this “true prequel” to Alien be enough for the fans/general audiences, or were they too burned out by Prometheus five years back?

Ridley Scott‘s latest installment in the Alien franchise has a prime summer release date to work with and it’s received positive reviews from critics thus far (it currently has a 76% on Rotten Tomatoes). But will that be enough to make it a huge hit? Prometheus, which opened to $51 million on it’s opening weekend, was seen as a disappointment to many (despite the fact that it has a very similar 72% score on Rotten Tomatoes). This film, which brought back some of the attributes missing from Scott’s last installment, is seen a light course-correction to bring fans of the series back after vaguely giving them what they wanted with the first prequel.

The marketing has relied heavily on the titular alien and the horror aspects of the film rather than a big spectacle that Prometheus sold itself as. And because of that, it has both advantages and disadvantages. The horror-aspect will draw in younger crowds, looking for a fun, spooky time at the movies. However, with that comes the fact that because of this approach to the marketing, it doesn’t feel like an “event” film. Prometheus felt big because it promised to be the grand revival of the franchise. Alien: Covenant feels like an apology.

Other releases include Warner Bros. Everything, Everything and another Fox release Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul. I’m not expecting much out of these two, and I don’t think I’m not alone on that assumption. In fact, the only film that I think will even be remotely close to Covenant is the reigning-champ Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2. The Disney/Marvel film will certainly give the horror sequel a fight for the top spot this weekend, but I do think Ridley Scott‘s latest will come out on top.